1. Field
Provided is a blood vessel pressing cuff for pressing a blood vessel in order to measure blood pressure, a blood pressure measuring apparatus including the blood vessel pressing cuff, and a blood pressure measuring method using the blood pressure measuring apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As people's interest in health continuously increases, various blood pressure measuring apparatuses are being developed. Blood pressure measurement methods include a Korotkoff sound method, an oscillometric method, a tonometric method, and the like. In the Korotkoff sound method, which is a typical pressure measurement method, when pressure is sufficiently applied to a body part where arterial blood flows, to stop the flow of the arterial blood and then is released, pressure at a moment when an initial pulse is heard is measured as systolic pressure and pressure at a moment when no more pulse is heard is measured as diastolic pressure.
The oscillometric method and the tonometric method are used in digital blood pressure measuring apparatuses. Like the Korotkoff sounds method, in the oscillometric method, a sphygmus wave generated when pressure is sufficiently applied to a body part where arterial blood flows to stop the flow of the arterial blood and then is released at a uniform speed, or a sphygmus wave generated when pressure is applied to the body part to raise the pressure at a uniform speed, is sensed so as to measure systolic pressure or diastolic pressure. When compared to a moment at which the sphygmus wave has a maximum amplitude, pressure when the sphygmus wave is at a certain level of the maximum amplitude may be measured as the systolic pressure or the diastolic pressure.
Alternatively, pressure when amplitudes of the sphygmus wave greatly vary may be measured as the systolic pressure or the diastolic pressure. When pressure is applied and then is released at a uniform speed, the systolic pressure is measured before the sphygmus wave reaches the maximum amplitude and the diastolic pressure is measured after the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude. On the other hand, when applied pressure is raised at a uniform speed, the systolic pressure is measured after the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude and the diastolic pressure is measured before the sphygmus wave has reached the maximum amplitude. In the tonometric method, blood pressure may be continuously measured by using the amplitude and shape of a sphygmus wave generated when pressure that does not completely stop the flow of arterial blood is applied to a body part.